Ill be frank; i am NOT a fan of government affiliated post systems; neither in Europe (bloody MESS! when ISNT it a vacation day or a strike?!?!?), and in the US (takes....for....EVER!)

For serious priority work, i usually go with DHL in Europe, and FedEX or UPS in the US (because there are no close DHL locations), but based on delivery times, methods, and package arrival times, i tend to prefer UPS overall. Standard shipping to/from my location in the USA, UPS is generally 1 or 2 days quicker, delivers earlier in the day (10-10:30 AM vs 11 AM for USPS and 7 PM for FedEX), and has never lost or mangled a package (USPS has never lost a package, but mangled 3; still not bad at ALL considering the volume they deal with). I am not knocking any company, btw. I will, if it is feasible and high priority, drive and deliver a finished product in person; deadlines are meant to be beaten IMO.

About USPS, same holds true for 2 day or overnight; it ALWAYS gets there or gets here on time, but i prefer UPS for their more accurate tracking systems. I had a time sensitive package that was destroyed due to an accident; with USPS there is no way i would have known for DAYS after it was due. I simply sent another copy overnight and dealt with the paperwork the next day; client was happy, i was happy. Recently i bought some components for a systems upgrade for our main editing stations (motherboards, RAM, processors) and they are coming through USPS. I paid extra for 2 day shipping; now i understand its the holidays, but i paid for and ordered the components on 1 Dec; its almost 11 Dec now; come on; that is not acceptable.

I could have driven to california, purchased the items or picked them up from that location (or practically anywhere else in the lower 48's), and driven back to the east coast by now (seriously; ive done Philadelphia to Seattle in fewer days).

So instead of having 2 killer machines for my editors to work on, i have 1 functional but dated editing machine at the office (Q9450/8GB RAM 9800GTX+ OC 1GB on CS5 w/MPE enabled, other has a dead motherboard) and brought my own personal machine in (see sig) that i JUST built so we can get our customers' valentines ads delivered; and im out my own computer that i needed. I spent 3 days filming instructional videos and how-to's, tips/tricks etc for DSLR videography because i had purchased them all Canon T2i/lens/H4n/mic sets as gifts, and i wanted to put uniquely tailored instructional video's on memory cards and in the cameras, so when they received them, it would be a very distinct personal touch; not just a hunk of plastic and metal and glass. Instead im hoping i can rush to finish editing the videos and perhaps have to spend a TON to get them there before christmas to Nevada, Greece, and South Africa.

So what are YOUR shipping company nightmare/blessing stories, and what is your favored shipping company?

I could have driven to california, purchased the items or picked them up from that location (or practically anywhere else in the lower 48's), and driven back to the east coast by now

Not for what you paid USPS you couldn't.

If it's a priority and time is an issue, then you need to pay for it. I've had the best luck with UPS. You very correctly noted that UPS has better tracking options than USPS, and that's why I generally use them. USPS is fine for low priority or small, low value items, but if it's important, it's UPS or FedEx. Overnight.

__________________"It can only be attributable to human error... This sort of thing has cropped up before, and it has always been due to human error."

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